The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Poinsettia plant, botanically known as Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd., and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Stargazer’.
The new Poinsettia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to create new Poinsettia cultivars with upright and uniform plant habit, attractive flower bract shape and coloration, low temperature tolerance and good postproduction longevity.
The new Poinsettia originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor on Jan. 15, 2000 of a proprietary selection of Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. identified as code number 98025, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent, with a proprietary selection of Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd. identified as code number 98001, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Stargazer was discovered and selected by the Inventor on Nov. 16, 2000 as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands.
Asexual reproduction of the new Poinsettia by vegetative terminal cuttings in a controlled environment in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands since July, 2001, has shown that the unique features of this new Poinsettia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.